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HE PHILIPPINES 



THE FIRST CIYIL GOYERNOR 

BY THEODORE ROOSEVELT 

CIYIL GOYERNMENT IN THE 
PHILIPPINES 

BY WILLIAM H. TAFT 

CIVIL GOVEKNOB OF THE PHILIPPINES 



NEW YORK 

THE OUTLOOK COMPANY 

1902 



TKrxiBRARY or 

CONGRESS, 

Two CoWEe REOEiveo 

AUG. !2 1902 

» CorvntOHT EPiniv 
CLASS ^ XXa No. 
COFV B. ' 



Copyright, 1902, by 
The Outlook Company 



THE DEVINNE PRESS 






PUBLISHERS' NOTE 

Governor Taft's survey of what 
has been already accomplished in the 
Philippines in establishing civil govern- 
ment is the best possible indication of 
what may be done in the future in ex- 
tending and completing the work. The 
importance of a full knowledge of ac- 
tual conditions is apparent; and no- 
where have the facts been stated so 
fully and so authoritatively as they are 
here by Governor Taft. When this 
review of the situation was published 
in The Outlook (May 31, 1902) the 

[5] 



PUBLISHERS' NOTE 



editors of that journal pointed out that 
it was because they regarded General 
Taft as the first expert in the service 
of the country in the affairs of the 
Philippines that they had asked him to 
prepare for their readers a full survey 
of what had been accomplished, and an 
outhne of the pohcy which he wishes 
to have pursued in dealing with the 
islands. It is for the same reason 
that it has seemed well worth while 
to give permanent form to this history 
of the laying of the foundations of 
American civiHzation in the Philip- 
pines. 

The qualities of Judge Taft's char- 
acter and the nature of his experience 
which made him the choice of President 
McKinley are admirably brought out in 
[6] 



PUBLISHERS' NOTE 



President Eoosevelt's personal sketch 
of '' The First Civil Governor." This 
characteristically direct and vigorous 
appreciation was written a very few 
weeks before the assassination of Pres- 
ident McKinley, and was first pubhshed 
in The Outlook of September 21, 1901. 



[7] 



THE FIRST CIVIL GOYEENOR: 
WILLIAM H. TAFT 

BY THEODOEE EOOSEVELT 

President of the United States 



THE FIRST CIVIL GOVEENOR 

A YEAR^ ago a man of wide ac- 
quaintance both with American 
public life and American public 
men remarked that the first Gov- 
ernor of the Philippines ought to 
combine the qualities which would 
make a first-class President of the 
United States with the qualities 
which would make a first-class 
Chief Justice of the United States, 
and that the only man he knew 
who possessed all these qualities 

^ This article was written for The Outlook in 
the summer of 1901 by President Roosevelt, then 
Vice-President. 

[11] 



THE FIEST CIVIL GOVERNOR 



was Judge William H. Taft, of Ohio. 
The statement was entirely cor- 
rect. Few more difficult tasks have 
devolved upon any man of our na- 
tionality during our century and a 
quarter of puhlic life than the han- 
dling of the Philippine Islands just 
at this time ; and it may be doubted 
whether among men now living an- 
other could be found as well fitted 
as Judge Taft to do this incredibly 
difficult work. Judge Taft belongs 
to a family which has always done 
valuable public service. He grad- 
uated fi'om Yale in 1878; and a 
few years later, when Yale gave 
him the honorary degree of LL.D., 
he was the youngest of her grad- 
uates upon whom she had ever con- 

[12] 



WILLIAM H. TAFT 



ferred this honor. On graduation 
he took up the study of the law, and 
also entered actively into puhlic 
life. In both careers he rose stead- 
ily and rapidly. Under President 
Harrison he was made Solicitor- 
General of the United States, and 
he left this place to become a Judge 
of the United States District Court. 
But his weight in public life was 
something entirely apart from the 
office he at any time happened to 
hold. I dislike speaking in hyper- 
bole; but I think that almost all 
men who have been brought in close 
contact, personally and officially, 
with Judge Taft are agreed that he 
combines as very, very few men 
ever can combine, a standard of 

[13] 



THE FIEST CIVIL GOVERNOR 



absolutely unflinching rectitude on 
every point of public duty, and a 
literally dauntless courage and 
willingness to bear responsibility, 
with a knowledge of men, and a 
far-reaching tact and kindliness, 
which enable his great abilities and 
high principles to be of use in a 
way that would be impossible were 
he not thus gifted with the capacity 
to work hand in hand with his 
fellows. President McKinley has 
rendered many great services to 
his country ; and not the least has 
been the clear-sightedness with 
which he has chosen the best pos-, 
sible public servants to perform the 
very difficult tasks of acting as the 
first administrators in the islands 

[14] 



WILLIAM H. TAFT 



which came into our hands as a 
result of the Spanish war. Such 
was the service he rendered when 
he chose Assistant Secretary of the 
Navy Allen and afterwards Judge 
Hunt as Governors of Porto Rico ; 
when he chose General Leonard 
Wood as Governor- General of Cuba; 
and finally when he made Judge 
Taffc the first Governor of the 
Philippines. 

When Judge Taft was sent out 
as the head of the Commission ap- 
pointed by the President to inaugu- 
rate civil rule in the Philippines, 
he was in a position not only of 
great difficulty, but of great deli- 
cacy. He had to show inflexible 
strength, and yet capacity to work 

[15] 



THE FIEST CIVIL GOVEENOR 



heartily with other men and get 
the best results out of conflicting 
ideas and interests. The Tagalog 
insurrection was still under full 
headway, being kept alive largely 
by the moral aid it received from 
certain sources in this country. 
Any action of the Commission, no 
matter how wise and just, was 
certain to be misrepresented and 
bitterly attacked here at home by 
those who, from whatever reasons, 
desired the success of the insur- 
gents. On the other hand, the 
regular army, which had done and 
was doing its work admirably — 
and which is entitled to the hearti- 
est regard and respect from every 
true American, alive, as he should 

[16] 



WILLIAM H. TAFT 



be, to its literally inestimable ser- 
vices — was yet, from its very 
nature, not an instrument fitted for 
tbe frirtber development of civil 
liberty in the islands. Under ordi- 
nary circumstances there would 
have been imminent danger of fric- 
tion between the military and civil 
authorities. Fortunately, we had 
at the head of the War Department 
in Secretary Elihu Root a man as 
thoroughly fit for his post as Gov- 
ernor Taft was for his. Secretary 
Root was administering his depart- 
ment with an eye single to the 
public interests, his sole desire 
being to get the best possible re- 
sults for the country. Where these 
results could be obtained by the 

[17] 



THE FIRST CIVIL GOVEKNOR 



use of the army, lie used it in the 
most efficient possible manner — 
and month by month, almost day 
by day, its efficiency increased 
under his hands. Where he thought 
the best results could be obtained 
by the gradual elimination of the 
army and the substitution of civil 
government, his sole concern was 
to see that the substitution was 
made in the most advantageous 
manner possible. Neither the Sec- 
retary nor the Governor was capa- 
ble of so much as understanding 
the pettiness which makes a cer- 
tain type of official, even in high 
office, desire to keep official control 
of some province of public work, not 
for the sake of the public work, but 

[18] 



WILLIAM H. TAFT 



for the sake of the office. No better 
object-lesson could be given than 
has thus been given by Secretary 
Root and Governor Taft of the im- 
mense public benefit resulting, un- 
der circumstances of great difficulty 
and delicacy, from the cordial co- 
operation of two public servants, 
who combine entire disinterested- 
ness with the highest standard of 
capacity. 

Governor Taft thus set to work 
with the two great advantages of 
the hearty and generous support of 
his superior, the President, and the 
ungrudging cooperation of the War 
Department. The difficulties he 
had to combat were infinite. In 
the Philippines we were heirs to all 

[19] 



THE FIRST CIVIL GOVERNOR 



the troubles of Spain, and above all 
to the inveterate distrust and sus- 
picion which Spanish rule had left 
in the native mind. The army 
alone could put down the insurrec- 
tion, and yet, once the insurrection 
had been put down, every consider- 
ation of humanity and policy re- 
quired that the function of the army 
should be minimized as much as 
possible. Until after the Presiden- 
tial election in November last peace 
could not come, because both the 
insurgent leaders and their sup- 
porters on this side of the water 
were under the mistaken impression 
that a continuance of the bloodshed 
and struggle in the Philippines 
would be politically disadvanta- 

[20] 



WILLIAM H. TAFT 



geous to the party in power in the 
United States. Soon after the re- 
sults of the election became known 
in the Philippines, however, armed 
resistance collapsed. The small 
bands now in the field are not, 
properly speaking, insurgents at 
all, but " ladrones," robbers whose 
operations are no more political 
than those of bandits in Calabria 
or Greece. 

The way has thus been cleared 
for civil rule ; and astonishing prog- 
ress has been made. Wherever 
possible. Governor Taft has been 
employing natives in the public ser- 
vice. Being a man of the soundest 
common sense, however, he has 
not hesitated to refuse to employ 

[21 ] 



THE FIRST CIVIL GOVEENOR 



natives where, after careful investi- 
gation, his deliberate judgment is 
that, for the time being, it is to the 
advantage of the natives themselves 
that Americans should administer 
the position, notably in certain of 
the judgeships and high offices. 
For the last few months the Fili- 
pinos have known a degree of peace, 
justice, and prosperity to which 
they have never attained in their 
whole previous history, and to which 
they could not have approximated 
in the remotest degree had it not 
been for the American stay in the 
islands. Under Judge Taffc they are 
gradually learning what it means 
to keep faith, what it means to have 
public officials of unbending recti- 

[22] 



WILLIAM H. TAFT 



tude. Under him the islands have 
seen the beginnings of a system of 
good roads, good schools, upright 
judges, and honest public servants. 
His administration throughout has 
been designed primarily for the 
benefit of the islanders themselves, 
and has therefore in the truest and 
most effective way been in the in- 
terest also of the American Repub- 
lic. Under him the islanders are 
now taking the first steps along the 
hard path which ultimately leads 
to self-respect and self-government. 
That they will travel this road with 
success to the ultimate goal there 
can be but little doubt, if only our 
people will make it absolutely certain 
that the policies inaugurated under 

[23] 



THE FIEST CIVIL GOVERNOR 



President McKinley by Governor 
Taft shall be continued in the fature 
by just such men as Governor Taft. 
There will be occasional failures, oc- 
casional shortcomings ; and then we 
shall hear the familiar wail of the 
men of little faith, of little courage. 
Here and there the smoldering 
embers of insurrection will burst 
again into brief flame; here and 
there the measure of self-govern- 
ment granted to a given locality 
will have to be withdrawn or dimin- 
ished because on trial the people do 
not show themselves fit for it ; and 
now and then we shall meet the 
sudden and unexpected difiiculties 
which are inevitably incident to 
any effort to do good to peoples 

[24] 



WILLIAM H. TAFT 



containing some savage and half- 
civilized elements. Governor Taft 
will have to meet crisis after crisis ; 
he will meet each with courage, 
coolness, strength, and judgment. 

It is highly important that we 
have good laws for the islands. It 
is highly important that these laws 
permit of the great material devel- 
opment of the islands. Governor 
Taft has most wisely insisted that 
it is to the immense benefit of the 
islanders that great industrial en- 
terprises spring up in the Philip- 
pines, and of course such indus- 
trial enterprises can only spring 
up if profit comes to those who 
undertake them. The material up- 
lifting of the people must go to- 

[25] 



THE FIRST CIVIL GOVERNOK 



gether with their moral upHfting. 
But though it is important to have 
wise laws, it is more important that 
there should be a wise and honest 
administration of the laws. The 
statesmen at home, in Congress and 
out of Congress, can do their best 
work by following the advice and 
the lead of the man who is actually 
on the ground. It is therefore es- 
sential that this man should be of 
the very highest stamp. If infe- 
rior men are appointed, and, above 
all, if the curse of spoils politics 
ever fastens itself upon the admin- 
istration of our insular dependen- 
cies, widespread disaster is sure to 
follow. Every American worthy 
of the name, every American who 

[26] 



WILLIAM H. TAFT 



is proud of his country and jealous 
of her honor, should uphold the 
hands of Governor Taft, and hy the 
heartiness of his support should 
give an earnest of his intention to 
insist that the high standard set 
hy Governor Taft shall be accepted 
for all time hereafter as the stan- 
dard hy which we intend to judge 
whoever, under or after Governor 
Taft, may carry forward the work 
he has so strikingly begun. 

Governor Taft left a high office 
of honor and of comparative ease 
to undertake his present work. 
As soon as he became convinced 
where his duty lay he did not hesi- 
tate a moment, though he clearly 
foresaw the infinite labor, the crush- 

[27] 



THE FIRST CIVIL GOVERNOR 



ing responsibility, the certainty of 
recurring disappointments, and all 
the grinding wear and tear which 
such a task implies. But he gladly 
undertook it ; and he is to be con- 
sidered thrice fortunate! For in 
this world the one thing supremely 
worth having is the opportunity, 
coupled with the capacity, to do 
well and worthily a piece of work 
the doing of which is of vital con- 
sequence to the welfare of mankind. 



[28] 



CIVIL GOVERl^MENT IN 
THE PHILIPPINES 

BY WILLIAM H. TAFT 

Civil Governor of the Philippines 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN 
THE PHILIPPINES 

4S soon as the American army 
iV extended its lines beyond the 
city of Manila, and brought within 
its control the various towns of the 
islands, steps were taken by Gen- 
eral Otis to inaugurate a simple 
civil municipal government under 
what were called Orders No. 43. 
Thereafter, in the spring of 1900, 
a commission appointed by Gen- 
eral Otis reported a more extended 
form of municipal government un- 
der General Orders No. 40. But 
comparatively few towns were or- 

[31] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



ganized under Orders No. 40 before 
the Oommission began to exercise 
its legislative jurisdiction in Sep- 
tember, 1900. The civil branch 
of the military government under 
the Commanding General was a 
growth. He exercised both the 
legislative and executive power. 
He established civil courts in some 
six or eight of the provinces, gen- 
erally appointing Filipinos to the 
bench. He appointed four judges 
of first instance in the city of Ma- 
nila, and created a Supreme Court, 
following the organization of the 
Audiencia or Supreme Court as it 
existed under the Spaniards. This 
court he made up of both Ameri- 
cans and Filipinos, with Chief Jus- 

[32] 



THE BEGINNINGS OF CIVIL RULE 



tice Arellano, a Filipino, as its 
head. The secretary to the Mili- 
tary Governor was his chief assis- 
tant in carrying on the civil hranch 
of his government, and the legisla- 
tive work was done through his 
general orders or by the executive 
orders of the President. It was 
through one of the latter that the 
tariff act was put in force and duties 
collected under it. The customs 
office and the offices of the Trea- 
surer and the Auditor of the islands 
were established. Under an exec- 
utive order of the President and 
the appointment of the Postmaster- 
General, a post-office was organ- 
ized and a Director- General of Posts 
began his duties. A Superinten- 

[33] 



CIVIL GOVEENMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



dent of Schools for the city of 
Manila was appointed and some 
schools were opened there, first 
under Father McKinnon as Super- 
intendent, and then under Mr. An- 
derson. The military government 
called into requisition the services 
of military officers by detailing 
them for civil duties. So much of 
the country was disturbed by the 
guerrilla war at the time that the 
operation of the civil branches of the 
government was exceedingly lim- 
ited, and its expenses, by reason of 
the employment of detailed army of- 
ficers who received no salaries from 
the civil funds, were not large. The 
customs receipts were considerable, 
and though a good deal of money 

[34] 



THE BEGINNINGS OF CIVIL RULE 



was taken from the civil ftinds for 
purely military expenses, a satisfac- 
tory balance remained at the end of 
the fiscal year. The Commission 
in its problems was much aided by 
what had been done under the mili- 
tary government. From Septem- 
ber, 1900, to July, 1901, the 
Commanding General of the Army 
was civil executive as well. This 
was a good arrangement, because 
it kept up the interest of the mili- 
tary branch in the development of 
the municipal governments until 
many could stand alone, and it 
enabled the Commission to secure 
through the Executive, during the 
transition from a military to a civil 
regime, the assistance of the army. 

[35] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



It was, however, no small task for 
the Commission first to enact legis- 
lation necessary to organize and 
establish the various bureaus and 
departments, and then to secure 
competent and faithful civilians to 
carry on the work of the central 
government, and to substitute them 
for military officers. 

The fifth law which was enacted 
by the Commission was the civil 
service law, which is believed to 
extend the merit system further 
than it has ever been extended in 
r this country. It is an indispensable 
condition precedent to any proper 
civil government in the islands; but 
it necessarily imposed restrictions 

[36] 



THE CIVIL SERVICE — PUBLIC WORKS 



in the selection of employees, which 
have, in some cases, delayed the 
organization of offices. 

The first act passed by the Com- 
mission appropriated one million 
dollars for the construction and im- 
provement of roads in the Archi- 
pelago. Another early act of the 
Commission provided for the im- 
provement of the harbor works of 
Manila, and involved an expendi- 
ture of three millions of dollars. I 
shall not dwell upon the necessity 
for the construction of roads in the 
Philippines. In no other respect 
are the islands so backward as in 
the lack of intercommunication be- 
tween the towns of the interior. 

[37] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



The harbor of Manila at present is 
not at all satisfactory. A popular 
impression exists that Manila Bay 
is small enough to form a harbor in 
itself, but this is a great mistake. 
The bay is thirty-five miles long by 
twenty-five miles wide, and opposite 
to Manila is the opening between 
the China Sea and the bay, suffi- 
ciently wide to give free sweep to 
the southwest monsoon, so that dur- 
ing the wet season, when that mon- 
soon prevails, vessels anchored in 
the Bay of Manila find it very dif- 
ficult to load or unload. The Span- 
iards bailt part of a breakwater, but 
very little protection was thus given 
to shipping. The Pasig River offers 
a harbor for vessels of sixteen feet 

[38] 



MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTS 



draft, but it is so crowded that the 
demand for more harbor room is 
imperative. It is hoped that the 
harbor work will be completed in 
two years, and, with a good harbor 
and a reduction of landing charges, 
the port of Manila will undoubtedly 
become one of the most important 
in the Orient. 

Between September, 1900, and 
January, 1901, the Commission 
enacted other legislation looking 
toward the better organization of 
the central government bureaus 
and departments. It had also in 
preparation the acts providing for 
the creation of municipal and pro- 
vincial governments; but until the 

[39] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



election of President McKinley gave 
the people of the islands to under- 
stand what the policy of the United 
States was to be, the Commission 
did not deem it wise to attempt to 
carry out its plans for partial self- 
government of the islands. In De- 
cember, 1900, and January and 
February of 1901, full discussion 
was held at the public sessions of 
the Commission in respect to the 
provisions of these important or- 
ganizing acts, and they were made 
into law in February of that year. 
The municipal law is drawn on the 
same general plan as the municipal 
codes of this country, and the gov- 
ernment is practically autonomous. 
The electorate is limited to those 

[40] 



PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENTS 



who speak and write either Spanish 
or English, those who pay a tax of 
fifteen dollars a year, or to those 
who have filled municipal offices. 
The provincial government is par- 
tially autonomous. The office of 
Governor is elective. The Governor 
is a member of the provincial legis- 
lative hoard. His colleagues on this 
board are the Treasurer and Super- 
visor, who are appointed under the 
civil service law. The Governor 
and Treasurer exercise supervision 
over the municipal officers of their 
province. Thus far they have been 
Americans. The other provincial 
officers are the Prosecuting Attor- 
ney or Fiscal, and the Secretary. 
They have been Filipinos. The 

[41] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



Secretary is now selected under the 
civil service law. The Commission, 
which is the legislative body of the 
central government since the first 
of September, 1901, has five Amer- 
ican members and three Filipino 
members, appointed by the Presi- 
dent. 

Conditions improved so rapidly 
after the beginning of 1901 that 
the Commission felt justified in vis- 
iting various provinces to organize 
provincial governments. Four 
months of the time between Febru- 
ary, 1901, and September, 1901, 
was taken up in establishing thirty- 
four provincial governments. Of 
these, thirty- three were in provinces 

[42] 



PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENTS 



in which there were none but Chris- 
tian FiHpinos. One, the province 
of Benguet, in the mountains^ con- 
tained only Igorrotes or hill tribes. 
The government of Benguet was, 
therefore, of the most paternal char- 
acter and left most of the power, 
either by direct intervention or su- 
pervision, with the Governor. To 
the other provinces — the Christian 
Filipino provinces — the general 
provincial law was made applicable 
by special acts which were passed 
after a conference with the leading 
men of the province, and contained 
provisions varying the general pro- 
vincial act to suit differing local 
conditions. 

[43] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



Between the first of January and 
the first of September, 1901, the 
Commission passed a general school 
law, and under this the Superinten- 
dent of Public Instruction, Mr. At- 
kinson, brought to the islands about 
one thousand American school- 
teachers. The teachers did not 
reach the islands before August, and 
were not assigned and transported 
to their posts much before the first 
of October. There are about nine 
hundred towns in the Archipelago, 
and these teachers were sent to 
about five hundred of them. In 
addition to the thousand American 
school-teachers there are about 
twenty-five hundred Filipino school- 
teachers. The chief function of 

[44] 



SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS 



the American school-teacher is to 
teach the FiHpino teacher Eng- 
hsh, and proper methods of teach- 
ing. The American school-teach- 
ers do, of course, teach in the 
primary schools, hut the plan is 
that the teaching of the Fili- 
pino children shall chiefly he done 
by Filipino teachers. Normal 
schools have been organized in 
the islands, and manual training 
schools. The immense amount of 
detail required, not only for the es- 
tablishment of schools, but for the 
furnishing of a commissary for the 
school-teachers, will be understood 
only by those who know the diffi- 
culties of transportation and com- 
munication between Manila and the 

[45] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



towns of the islands. Among the 
thousand school-teachers it is not 
surprising that some should be 
found disposed to complain of the 
system which is being inaugurated. 
The school system as a system has 
really been in operation for not 
more than six months. It would 
be entirely unjust and foolish, after 
so short a time, to render a final 
judgment as to the wisdom of the 
system, were it being inaugurated 
in a country as well adapted to re- 
ceive a school system as the United 
States. Still more unwise and un- 
just is it to attempt to reach a final 
conclusion as to its successful oper- 
ation or otherwise when a system 
of this kind is applied to a country 

[46] 



SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS 



with such unusual conditions as 
those prevailing in the Philippine 
Islands. Not for five years will it 
be fair to speak with confidence of 
the effect and the efficiency of the 
school system in the Philippines. 
Certainly, neither the Commission 
nor the Superintendent is likely to 
be driven from a policy inaugu- 
rated after as full an investigation 
as could be made, by the grum- 
blings and criticisms of employees 
assigned to provinces not so impor- 
tant as they think their abilities 
and capacities require. 

The exact attitude of the- Cath- 
olic Church to the schools has not 
been clearly defined. It is quite 
probable that this wiU not be the 

[47] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



same in some provinces as in others. 
It is known to vary in this country, 
according to the views of the priest- 
hood in the particular locality, and 
the same thing will be true in the 
Philippines. The Commission has 
not the slightest objection to the 
spread of church schools, if only a 
proper standard of education is 
maintained in them ; on the con- 
trary, it welcomes any aid in edu- 
cation. It may be necessary to 
pass a compulsory education law 
when the school system shall be 
sufficiently enlarged to offer to all 
children of school age an opportu- 
nity for education. At present the 
difficulty of providing schools for 
those who are willing to attend is 

[48] 



SCHOOLS AND TEACHEES 



SO great that compulsory atten- 
dance would seem to be unreason- 
able. However, it should be said 
that the Commission is constantly 
in receipt of petitions from the va- 
rious towns of the Archipelago ask- 
ing that a compulsory education 
law be passed. In such a case, of 
course, attendance at church schools 
would satisfy the law, provided a 
curriculum was maintained cover- 
ing certain required subjects. It is 
very important that English be 
taught in all the schools, in order 
that the next generation shall have 
a common medium of communica- 
tion. The Filipinos have very con- 
siderable facility in learning lan- 
guages, and are very anxious to 

[49] 



CIVIL GOVEENMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



learn English. A knowledge of 
English, and a consequent familiar- 
ity with American literatm^e and 
American newspapers, will furnish 
to the people a means of under- 
standing American civilization and 
American institutions, and will 
greatly assist in teaching them self- 
government on Anglo-Saxon lines. 
One necessary addition to the school 
system is the establishment of 
schools of secondary instruction, 
and probably a university. The 
primary schools teach English. 
There are some Filipinos in each 
town, however, who will desire their 
children to have an academic edu- 
cation, and unless we furnish sec- 
ondary schools, in which English 

[50] 



THE JUDICIAEY 



shall be the language taught, we 
shall disappoint the legitimate am- 
bition and aspiration of such pa- 
rents. In other words, a primary 
system in English requires a secon- 
dary and probably university in- 
struction in the same language. 

The step next most important to 
the beginning of a school system 
in the islands has been the organi- 
zation of a judiciary. An impar- 
tial administration of justice is what 
has been most lacking in Philippine 
civilization, and the Commission 
has thought it wise that a judiciary 
should be established in which 
American judges should be in the 
majority. The whole Archipelago 

[51] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



has been divided into fifteen judicial 
districts, in each of which there is 
a court of first instance with a gen- 
eral civil and criminal jurisdiction 
like that of the ordinary common 
pleas court in this country. A jus- 
tice of the peace with jurisdiction 
like that of our justices of the peace 
is appointed in each town, and appeal 
from his decision to the courts of 
first instance is provided. A Su- 
preme Court of seven members, 
with appellate jurisdiction over the 
judgments of the courts of first in- 
stance, has been created to sit at 
Manila, Iloilo, and Oebu. In the 
Supreme Court four Americans and 
three Filipinos sit, and about one 
third of the judges of first instance 

[52] 



THE JUDICIARY 



are Filipinos. In the large cities, 
in which there is likely to be liti- 
gation between foreigners or Amer- 
icans and Filipinos, American 
judges have usually been selected. 
This is done in order to avoid the 
necessity for a so-called United 
States Court to which Americans 
and foreigners may carry their 
cases. As much care as possible 
has been used in the selection of 
the judges, and I feel confident that 
we have inaugurated a system in 
which justice will be done, and the 
inestimable benefit will be con- 
ferred upon the people of showing 
them what justice is. We have 
certainly succeeded in securing the 
" pick " of the Filipino lawyers for 

[53] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



the bench, and the American judges 
have shown themselves to be men 
thoroughly in earnest in their work 
and greatly interested in main- 
taining a high standard for the 
courts. 

As an aid in the administration 
of justice and the maintenance of 
law and order, in addition to the 
local police, it has been necessary 
to establish an insular constabu- 
lary. This consists of not more 
than one hundred and fifty men in 
each province, under inspectors 
partly American and partly Fili- 
pino. Ladronism was very widely 
extended under the Spanish rule, 
and there was organized under the 

[54] 



POLICE AND CONSTABULARY 



government what was called the 
guardia civil, but the outrages 
and abuses of the guardia civil 
were almost equal to those com- 
mitted by the ladrones. I am 
glad to say that thus far the opera- 
tion of the constabulary system 
has been most satisfactory, and 
ladronism is rapidly disappearing. 
The selection of men for its ranks 
has been very carefully made. The 
system of selecting only residents 
of the province for service in the 
province avoids the danger of abuse 
and looting by the members of the 
constabulary themselves. In a force 
of some five thousand men there 
have been reported but three deser- 
tions. The constabulary costs the 

[55] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



Philippine Government 1250 a man 
a year, on the average. 

During the period between Jan- 
uary and September of 1901 the 
Commission adopted, with the as- 
sistance of the War Department, a 
new tariff which reversed the prin- 
ciple of the Spanish tariff by impos- 
ing a higher duty upon luxuries 
than upon necessaries, and by re- 
ducing the duty upon foodstuffs, 
canned goods, and other necessaries, 
from a prohibitory rate to an ad 
valorem tax of about fifteen per 
cent. The average rate of the 
whole tariff* schedule is an ad va- 
lorem duty of from twenty-five to 
thirty per cent. The customs de- 

[ 56 ] 



TARIFF-FORESTRY-POSTAL SYSTEM 



partment had to be reorganized, and 
a customs administrative bill was 
passed in November, 1900, adopt- 
ing largely the American system 
of appraisement and collection. 

The Bureau of Forestry, which 
has under its protection one of the 
largest sources of wealth in the isl- 
ands, in the last year has been much 
extended and more completely or- 
ganized, so that it now has its 
agents in every province of the isl- 
lands to collect the timber license 
fees and to see to it that the forests 
are not injured by the cutting per- 
mitted. 

The Post- Office is being extended 
gradually, but it is not by any 
means as efficient as it ought to be. 

[57] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



The difficulties of communication 
are very great. The Commission 
has contracted for the construction 
of twenty small sea-going vessels 
with which it is hoped that the 
mails can he carried and a revenue 
police system maintained, and that 
the provincial officials may he trans- 
ported between the various towns 
of their province, and that frequent 
communication may thus be had be- 
tween the capitals of provinces and 
Manila. But these vessels will not 
all be ready for service before next 
year. Under the present system 
it sometimes takes more time to 
reach the capitals of some of the 
more remote provinces from Manila 
than it does to go to San Francisco. 

[58] 



HEALTH-AGEICULTURE-SUEVEYS 



The Commission has organized a 
complete health department under 
the central government, which co- 
operates with local health officials. 
This is essential hoth in the protec- 
tion of the people of the islands from 
epidemics of smallpox, cholera, and 
plague, and in stamping out conta- 
gious diseases of cattle and horses. 
A very heavy expense has been 
thrown upon the central govern- 
ment in its attempts to keep the 
cholera now existing in the islands 
from spreading. 

An agricultural bureau has been 
organized, the importance of which 
in developing proper methods of ag- 
riculture in these islands, and super- 
seding the uselessly clumsy manner 

[59] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



in which crops are sown and reaped, 
cannot be overstated. Some of the 
most expert scientists of the Agri- 
cultural Department of Washington 
have been brought to the islands, 
and it is hoped that in the course 
of three or four years marked im- 
provement in agricultural methods 
may be made through the instru- 
mentality of model farms and di- 
rect instruction in agricultural 
schools. 

Until Congress acts, the survey 
and sale of public lands and mining 
rights will probably be held in 
abeyance, but as the bill for the 
civil government of the Philippines 
is likely to pass before the close of 
this session of Congress, it is cer- 

[60] 



INCOME AND EXPENDITUEE 



tain that these two bureaus must 
he very much enlarged. Of course 
a very comprehensive and extensive 
system of surveys is absolutely ne- 
cessary to the proper application of 
any public land or public mining 
system, and this will have to be 
begun at once. The civil govern- 
ment is almost wholly dependent on 
receipts from customs for its income. 
It will be a serious question whe- 
ther the government as planned can 
be carried on without a deficit if 
business and the revenues do not 
increase. If the revenues do not 
increase, it will be necessary for the 
Commission to economize by delay- 
ing the execution of some of its plans 
and by radical retrenchment. The 

[61] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



cost of the school system is heavy, 
and in all prohability will increase. 
The necessity for more teachers and 
the erection of permanent school 
buildings is immediate. 

I think I have outlined the plans 
of the Commission with respect to 
the central government bureaus suf- 
ficiently to show that a good deal 
of money will be needed to carry 
them out. In addition to what I 
have said, the Philippine Govern- 
ment ought to make a compre- 
hensive exhibit at the Louisiana 
Purchase Exposition to be held at 
St. Louis in 1904, and it was hoped 
that half a million dollars might be 
appropriated for this purpose ; but 

[62] 



DIFFICULTIES OVEECOME 



the Commission has decided that it 
cannot enter into an obligation to 
pay out that much money until fur- 
ther time has been given to deter- 
mine what the income-producing 
capacity of the present tariff law is. 
The work of the Commission has 
been hard and exacting. The diffi- 
culty of selecting Competent officers 
to act as heads of bureaus and 
departments eight thousand miles 
away from the United States will 
be appreciated. The difficulty of 
selecting Filipinos for important 
offices where faction and prejudice 
and personal ambition play a very 
decided part can be understood. The 
great labor needed in the prepara- 
tion of the laws, an examination of 

[ 63] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



the acts of the Commission will 
show. One of the heaviest labors 
has been the preparation and en- 
actment of a code of civil procedure. 
The code follows generally the codes 
of the American States. The Span- 
ish code of procedure was so full of 
technicalities as practically to deny 
justice to the litigant, and the Fili- 
pino bar were unanimous in a de- 
mand for a change. Judge Ide has 
drafted the code, and I believe that 
American lawyers who consult it 
will testify to the excellence of his 
work. The old Spanish criminal 
code was continued by Greneral Otis, 
with necessary modifications, as 
well as the criminal code of prac- 
tice. A new code of practice and 

[64] 



THE TREASON AND SEDITION LAWS 



of crimes has now been prepared by 
General Wright, and only awaits 
enactment when the three lawyers 
of the Commission can meet to- 
gether again. The Commission, 
under its instructions, has not at- 
tempted to change the substantive 
law of the islands so far as it affects 
the correlative rights and duties of 
individuals. It is the civil law, 
and does not differ very materially 
from the Code Napoleon. It is a 
good system of law, and there is no 
reason to change it. 

When the tariff bill enacted into 
law by Congress was before the 
Senate, there was severe criticism 
of the Commission for passing what 

[65] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



were known as the treason and se- 
dition laws. So far as this criti- 
cism related to sections which were 
taken bodily from the Revised Stat- 
utes of the United States, and had 
been in those statutes for one hun- 
dred years, I hardly think it neces- 
sary to say anything. A section 
was taken from the Spanish laws 
which in effect, though not in lan- 
guage, was like a section of the 
United States Revised Statutes 
providing for the punishment of 
conspiracy on the part of two or 
more persons to deprive another 
of rights secured to him by the 
Constitution of the United States. 
Another section of the act was al- 
most a literal copy of a Tennessee 

[66] 



THE TREASON AND SEDITION LAWS 



statute denouncing sedition. An- 
other section forbade the organiza- 
tion of secret political societies, and 
another forbade the advocacy of 
independence pending the war either 
by peaceable or by forcible means. 
The latter section was by its terms 
merely a war measure, and to a cer- 
tain extent suspended free speech. 
As peace is now likely to be offi- 
cially declared at any time, it 
hardly needs further comment than 
to say that it was enacted, not to 
prevent the sincere advocacy of 
independence by peaceable means, 
though it had such an effect tem- 
porarily, but really to prevent the 
encom^agement of men in arms 
against the sovereignty of the 

[67] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



United States, by an advocacy of 
independence, either with no Hmi- 
tation or with a mere pretense of 
limiting the advocacy to peaceable 
means. Members of the Insurgent 
Junta began to move toward Ma- 
nila, with the apparent impression 
that the establishment of civil gov- 
ernment in Manila would allow 
them free scope for their political 
agitation. The section denouncing 
secret political societies was adopted 
for the same purpose as the section 
just discussed, and, while not ex- 
pressly limited to the pendency of 
war, may be regarded as war legis- 
lation. The section against sedi- 
tion was, as I have said, copied 
from a Tennessee statute, and was 

[68] 



THE TREASON AND SEDITION LAWS 



intended to secure the public wel- 
fare against articles intended to 
disturb the peace by gross libels 
upon the government or upon any 
class of people. There is nothing 
in the privilege of free speech or a 
free press that renders immune from 
prosecution those guilty of misrep- 
resentation or libel. The conditions 
prevailing in the Philippines make 
the passage of such a law necessary. 
There are in the city of Manila 
American papers owned and edited 
by Americans who have the bitter- 
est feeling toward the Filipinos, 
and entertain the view that legis- 
lation for the benefit of the Fili- 
pinos or appointment to office of 
Filipinos is evidence of a lack of 

[69] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



loyalty to the Americans who have 
come to settle in the islands. Ac- 
cordingly, they write the most scur- 
rilous articles impeaching the hon- 
esty of the Filipino officials, the 
Filipino judges, and the whole 
Filipino people, as a basis for at- 
tacking the policy of the Commis- 
sion. The editor of the "Free- 
dom " has been prosecuted under 
this section for publishing an arti- 
cle which is described by General 
Wright, the Acting Civil Governor 
of the Philippine Islands, as follows: 

The editor of the " Freedom " has 
been proceeded against on account of 
a lengthy editorial attacking civil gov- 
ernment in general and Filipino people 
in particular, charging that Commis- 

[70] 



THE TREASON AND SEDITION LAWS 



sion constitute a protectorate over set 
of men who should be in jail or de- 
ported, that they were all knaves and 
hypocrites. Eeferred to Valdes libel 
as showing Tavera coward and rascal, 
Legarda unworthy to associate with 
respectable people, and attacked Amer- 
ican Commissioners for recommending 
them and permitting them remain 
members. Charges Filipino judiciary 
notoriously corrupt and unwilling to 
convict Filipinos. Denominate all 
Filipino officials rascally natives, 
rogues, notoriously corrupt and men 
of no character. Manifest purpose to 
stir up race hatred and especially make 
odious and contemptible Filipino 
members of Commission and Filipino 
officials generally, and create breach 
between Filipinos and Americans, 
thereby disturbing the peace of the 
community. 

[71] 



CIVIL GOVEENMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



In a country like the United 
States such an article would not 
cause any particular trouble, but 
in the Philippines it is at once 
translated into Spanish and into 
Tagalog and is used for the pur- 
pose of stirring up race hatred ; 
and this was probably the purpose 
for which it was written. The 
paper in which the article appeared 
has always advocated great severity 
in dealing with the Filipinos, and 
has done everything to avoid the 
establishment of good feeling which 
ought to exist between the Filipino 
people and those Americans who are 
in the islands. The editor of the 
" Freedom " has the opportunity to 
prove, if he can, in his defense, the 
corruption which he charges, but 

[72] 



THE TREASON AND SEDITION LAWS 



if it turns out that his charges are 
unfounded, I think he ought to he 
punished, and that his punishment 
will not he in violation of any right 
to free speech. In a country like 
the United States it is wiser not 
to denounce many acts as offenses 
against the law which might prop- 
erly he denounced as such, because 
their evil effect is negligible in 
this community ; but such acts 
in a country like the Philippines, 
under the peculiar conditions there 
prevailing, may be exceedingly in- 
jurious to the public peace, and 
may properly call for a statutory 
denunciation of them without im- 
pairing any of the rights described 
in the bill of rights. 

[ 73] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



The people of the Archipelago are 
divided roughly into six and one 
half million Christian Filipinos, 
one million and a half Moros or 
Mohammedans, and one million 
other non- Christian tribes, known 
usually as hill tribes. The insur- 
rection has been maintained only 
by the Christian Filipinos. Neither 
the hill tribes nor the Moros took 
any part in it. The Christian Fili- 
pinos are the only people of the 
islands who have the slightest con- 
ception of popular government. 

The present condition of the Chris- 
tian Filipino provinces is that of 
peace. When I left the islands in 
December, 1901, there was insur- 
rection only in the provinces of 

[74] 



THE EESISTANCE OF THE FILIPINOS 



Batangas, Laguna, Sainar,Tayabas, 
and some little in Mindoro. It 
was also claimed that there was 
some insurrection in the province 
of Misamis, though it seemed to 
me that it was more of a ladrone 
disturbance than one of the in- 
surrectos. However that may he, 
the fact is now that all forces 
in arms in Batangas, Tayahas, 
Laguna, Samar, Mindoro, and Mis- 
amis have surrendered, and their 
rifles have been delivered up to 
the military authorities. These 
provinces are ripe for the establish- 
ment of civil government, and it is 
probable that within two months 
the provincial governments in those 
provinces will have been estab- 

[ 75 ] 



CIVIL GOVEENMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



lished/ When this is done, all 
the Christian Filipino provinces to 
which the provincial law can he 
practically applied will enjoy peace 
and civil government. There are 
two provinces on the Pacific coast 
known as Infanta and Principe, in 
which the population does not ex- 
ceed ten or fifteen thousand, which 
are so sparsely settled that a special 
form of government must be given 
them, and the same thing is true 
of the Oalamianes group in the Jolo 
Sea. There are ladrones in the 



^ On July 4, 1902, less than two months from the 
time when this was written, President Eoosevelt 
was able to proclaim that civil government was 
established everywhere in the Philippines except 
in the territory occupied by the Moros, and to 
issue also a proclamation of general amnesty. — 
The Publisheks. 

[ 76 ] 



THE RESISTANCE OF THE FILIPINOS 



province of Leyte who are being 
rapidly dispersed, captured, or killed 
by the constabulary, and the same 
thing is true of Negros. In Negros 
there never has been insurrection, 
but the impassable mountains and 
forests which form the spine of the 
island have always offered refuge 
to a mountain people who have 
made a profession of cattle-lifting 
and blackmailing. The rich haci- 
enda-owners of the plains of eastern 
and western Negros have always 
suffered from this evil. It is the 
purpose of the Commission to erad- 
icate it, but the ladrones are so nu- 
merous and the difficulties of cam- 
paigning so great that it will take 
a considerable time. 

The difficulty with the Lake La- 

[ 77 ] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



nao Moros, the wild Moros of Min- 
danao, has no more to do with the 
insurrection than did Indian fights 
on the plains or in Minnesota have 
to do with the Civil War. With 
the establishment of civil govern- 
ment in the near future, therefore, 
over all the six million of Christian 
Filipinos, the difficulties inherent in 
the dual form of control by the mili- 
tary and the civil authorities will 
be eliminated. The army will be 
concentrated in a comparatively few 
garrisoned posts separated from the 
towns, and stricter discipline will 
be much easier to maintain when 
the troops cease to be quartered on 
the people. When the troops are 
withdrawn to separate posts and the 

[78] 



THE PEOPLE AND THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT 



people see them but occasionally, 
they will he much more convinced 
of the real power of civil govern- 
ment and much more satisfied of the 
benevolent intentions of the Amer- 
ican authorities. Under orders 
which have now been issued by the 
War Department, the American 
troops will be reduced to a force 
of eighteen thousand men as soon 
as the Government transports can 
comply with the orders. 

There has been a general tendency 
among the military ofiicers to re- 
gard civil government as a failure, 
and this view has been reflected 
by those correspondents who have 
been with the army and have im- 

[79] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



bibed tbe opinion of tbe army 
messes and tbe Army and Navy 
Club in Manila; but a better ac- 
quaintance witb tbe actual govern- 
ments sbows tbese criticisms to be 
unfounded. Tbe civil provincial 
governments and tbe municipal gov- 
ernments are going concerns, baving 
defects in tbeir operation it is true, 
but nevertbeless furnisbing to tbe 
people wbo are subject to tbeir re- 
spective jurisdictions a protection 
to life, liberty, and property, an op- 
portunity to obtain justice tbrougb 
tbe courts, education for tbeir cbil- 
dren in tbe scbools, and tbe rigbt 
to pursue tbeir usual vocations. 
Tbe suggestion tbat in tbe so-called 
pacified provinces insurrection is 

[80] 



THE PEOPLE AND THE CIVIL GOVEENMENT 



still seething is wholly unfounded. 
The people are engaged in their or- 
dinary occupations, and while they 
have been much injured by the loss 
of their cattle through the rinder- 
pest, they are struggling with this 
difficulty and are raising rice in suf- 
ficient quantities to avoid a famine. 
An examination of the annual re- 
ports of the governors of the dif- 
ferent provinces contained in the 
printed evidence before the Senate 
Committee will support this state- 
ment. Taxes are being collected 
in the provinces, the processes of 
the court run without obstruction, 
and the February elections of gov- 
ernors were held without disturb- 
ance, and, on the whole, satisfac- 

[81] 



CIVIL GOVEENMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



tory candidates were selected. The 
Christian FiHpino people are now 
enjoying greater individual liberty 
and a greater voice in their gov- 
ernment than ever before in their 
history, and with the official dec- 
laration of peace now near at hand, 
both will be increased. Much has 
been said in the heat of debate and 
of partisan journalism concerning 
the feeling of hatred of the Filipinos 
toward the Americans. So far as 
the civil government is concerned, 
no such feeling exists. The Com- 
mission visited forty provinces and 
districts of the islands in the period 
between the first of February and 
the first of September, 1901, and 
occupied in all about four months 

[82] 



THE PEOPLE AND THE ARMY 



in its trip. The receptions given 
it by the educated and ignorant 
people alike, and the enthusiastic 
welcome which it received, all con- 
vinced the Commission that the 
people were friendly to civil gov- 
ernment and earnestly desired its 
establishment. They have taken 
great interest in the civil gov- 
ernment since, and nothing has 
occurred to change the deep impres- 
sion made upon the Commission by 
the good feeling manifested and ex- 
pressions of gratitude received on 
this trip. 

The feeling of the people toward 
the army is different. In some 
places it is friendly and in others 

[83] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



it is hostile, and it is found chiefly 
to vary with the disposition of the 
commanding officer of the post in 
the neighborhood. If he be abrupt, 
arbitrary, and surly in his treat- 
ment of the people, they do not like 
him. If he is interested in their 
welfare, is kindly and polite in deal- 
ing with them, they do like him. 
Toward the civil government, how- 
ever, which has always followed the 
policy of ''attraction," as it is called 
in the islands, in dealing with the 
people, their attitude is an entirely 
friendly one. It is quite natural 
that it should be. It was through 
the coming of the Civil Commis- 
sion that the rigor of military rule 
was softened and removed. It is 

[84] 



CONGRESSIONAL ACTION 



through frequent intercession of the 
civil authorities that military pris- 
oners have heen released, and the 
people are well aware that in the 
conflicts of jurisdiction between the 
civil government and the military 
government, of which there have 
heen a number, the civil govern- 
ment was seeking to save the Fili- 
pinos from military arrest and 
prosecution. 

It is too much to say that the 
Commission has done all that can 
be done under its present powers, 
because doubtless there is much in 
the way of perfecting the present 
provincial and municipal govern- 
ments that could occupy its time 

[85] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



and attention profitably ; but it is 
true that the time has now come 
when improvement in present con- 
ditions can be best brought about 
by the passage of a bill by Congress 
for the government of the Philip- 
pine Islands/ There are two bills 
pending — one in the Senate and 
one in the House. Both bills em- 
body the wise policy of not disturb- 
ing the present system of govern- 
ment, which has proved satisfactory. 
The principle has been followed, so 

1 Since this was written, Congress has passed, and 
the President has signed, a Philippine Act which 
agrees in many points with the suggestions here 
made by Governor Taft, but differs in some par- 
ticulars. A popular legislative assembly is to be 
organized two years after a census provided for 
by the act is taken ; the only restriction on the 
suffrage in the election of members is that the 
[86] 



CONGRESSIONAL ACTION 



well established in Anglo-Saxon 
government-building, of taking 
what is in existence and improving 
and adding to it. The Senate bill 
differs from the House bill, how- 
ever, in several material respects. 
The House bill provides that after 
peace shall be declared, and after a 
census shall have been taken, the 
Commission shall call a general elec- 
tion for the selection of representa- 
tives to form a popular assembly, 
which shall constitute one branch 

voters must be either property-owners or able to 
speak Spanish or English. The matter of coinage 
is left untouched by the act, so that the present 
laws continue in force. The act provides for 
grants of public lands to corporations, but not 
over twenty-five hundred acres can be granted 
to one corporation, and there are other restric- 
tions upon the grants. — The Publishers. 
[87] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



of tlie legislature of the islands, the 
Commission to constitute the other 
hranch. The House bill further 
provides for the selection by the pop- 
ular assembly and the Commission 
of two delegates who shall represent 
their constituents before the execu- 
tive and legislative branches of the 
Government at Washington. The 
House bill provides for the estab- 
lishment of a gold standard of value 
in the islands, to wit, the American 
gold dollar. It further provides for 
the coinage of a Filipino peso to 
contain silver of value in gold of 
about forty cents or less, and a use- 
ful and proper subsidiary coinage. 
This coinage is to be limited to the 
government only, and the seignior- 

[88] 



CONGRESSIONAL ACTION 



age is reserved as a fund to main- 
tain the parity of the peso with fifty 
cents gold. Other means are pro- 
vided in the act by which the Phil- 
ippine Government is authorized to 
maintain the parity. It is hoped 
by the Commission that recom- 
mended this plan, and by the Com- 
mittee of the House, that it will 
prevent the fluctuations of value 
due to the use of Mexican currency, 
and will at the same time furnish 
a coinage so near to the present 
coinage as not to create a disturb- 
ance in values or in wages. The 
Senate bill does not provide for a 
legislative assembly or the appoint- 
ment of the two delegates, nor does 
it make provision for a gold stan- 

[89] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



dard. In place of these it directs 
the taking of a census after peace 
shall be declared, and the recom- 
mendation by the Commission of 
the form of government to be per- 
manently established. It provides 
also for the free coinage of a Filipino 
dollar of the size and weight of the 
Mexican dollar, which it is hoped 
will become a well-known coin in 
the commerce of the Bast. 

We of the Commission are very 
earnest and sincere in our hope that 
at least the provision for the elec- 
tion of the legislative assembly and 
of the two delegates contained in 
the House bill shall be embodied in 
legislation. We think that the 

[90] 



FILIPINO REPRESENTATION 



Filipino people would accept this 
provision as the most indubitable 
evidence of the desire of the United 
States that self-government should 
be given to the people in as large a 
measure as they are capable of car- 
rying it on. Danger from obstruc- 
tion of the government by with- 
holding supplies is avoided in a 
section of the House bill by a pro- 
vision that, should the appropria- 
tion bill not be passed, appropria- 
tions equal to those of the year 
before shall become available with- 
out legislation. There are members 
of the Senate Committee on the 
Philippines who believe that the 
step involved in the organization of 
a legislative assembly is too pro- 

[91] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



gressive and too radical. In this 
I think they are mistaken. It is 
quite possible that on the floor of 
the legislative assembly will he pro- 
claimed doctrines at variance with 
the policy of the United States, and 
that possibly, by some members, 
seditious and treasonable speeches 
may be made ; but, on the whole, 
I feel sure that the people will re- 
gard the legislative assembly as a 
welcome method by which they can 
take part in the government, and 
that there will be every disposition 
on the part of most of the members 
to work harmoniously with the 
other branch of the legislative de- 
partment and with the Executive. 
It has been suggested that possibly 

[92] 



FILIPINO REPRESENTATION 



the legislative assembly would se- 
lect Aguinaldo or Mabini or some 
other prominent insurrecto leader 
or organizer to represent it at 
Washington. I do not think this 
is likely ; but even if it were to 
happen, I should not regard it as a 
dangerous result. I think it would 
be found that the popular assembly 
would include many conservative 
men who would be in favor of sup- 
porting American sovereignty in 
the islands and making the gov- 
ernment it has established firm and 
stable. A provision of this kind 
would destroy at once the suspi- 
cions of American good faith, and 
would largely satisfy the desire for 
self-government of all but the com- 

[93] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



paratively few irreconcilables. A 
popular assembly would be a great 
educational school for the better 
class of Filipinos in actual govern- 
ment. The weakness of the edu- 
cated Filipinos to-day is in their 
lack of practical knowledge as to 
how a popular government ought 
to be run. They always resort to 
absolutism in practical problems of 
government. The restrictions upon 
the suffrage contained in the mu- 
nicipal code, which are by refer- 
ence made part of the House bill, 
would secure a fairly intelligent 
body of representatives in the 
popular assembly. 

The result of the popular assem- 
bly in the Hawaiian Islands has 

[94] 



FILIPINO REPRESENTATION 



been referred to as a warning against 
the extension of such privileges in 
the Philippines ; but it must be 
noted that the difficulty in the Ha- 
waiian Islands resulted not so much 
fi'om the establishment of a popular 
assembly as fi'om the undue exten- 
sion of the electoral fi^anchise. In 
the Philippines the franchise has 
been restricted and duly guarded. 
I am not blind to the troubles 
that the legislative assembly would 
doubtless bring to the Executive 
and to the Commission in rousing 
public discussion over unimportant 
matters which now perhaps pass 
without notice ; but I am not at all 
sure that such public discussion 
would not, on the whole, work for 

[95] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



the public welfare. The fact that 
a vote of the Commission would be 

I 

necessary to the enactment of any 
law is quite a sufficient veto for 
practical purposes. Should the 
legislative assembly feature, which 
the Federal party has petitioned 
for, which the Commission has rec- 
ommended, and which the Com- 
mittee of the House has recom- 
mended, be eliminated, it will cause 
very serious disappointment to the 
Filipino people. 

The agricultural and commercial 
communities in the Philippines are 
anxious that the Dingley tariff rates 
against products of the islands 
should be reduced. The rates are 
now reduced in favor of Philippine 

[96] 



TAEIFF REDUCTION DESIEABLE 



importations twenty-five per cent., 
but the Commission is convinced 
that the reduction should be sev- 
enty-five per cent., and that with 
such a reduction the commerce 
between the Philippines and the 
United States will gradually in- 
crease to a very large volume. I 
think it is recognized by mem- 
bers of Congress, both in the 
Senate and in the House, that this 
reduction of twenty-five per cent, 
is only the beginning, and that 
the tendency must necessarily be 
toward free trade. We do not 
seek absolute free trade, because 
tariffs should be reciprocal, and an 
ad valorem duty of twenty-five per 
cent, on imports from the United 

[97] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



States to the Philippines seems 
necessary to furnish the needed 
revenues to the islands. We sin- 
cerely hope that next session will 
see a further material reduction, 
and that within a measurably short 
time at least a seventy-five per 
cent, reduction will he made. What 
the Filipino people long for is ex- 
pressions of good will from the 
Americans, and nothing would be 
more welcome than this invitation 
to come into the American mar- 
kets. 

The House bill differs from the 
Senate bill also in containing a 
declaration or bill of rights in favor 
of the Filipino people under the 

[98] 



A BILL OF RIGHTS 



government by the bill established. 
It secures all the rights declared 
in the bill of rights and the Con- 
stitution of the United States, ex- 
cept the right to bear arms and 
the right of trial by jury. Any one 
familiar with Filipino civilization 
will understand the wisdom of with- 
holding from the Filipino people 
the enjoyment of these two privi- 
leges. If arms could be purchased 
without restriction, ladronism in 
the islands would be widely ex- 
tended, and the maintenance of law 
and order most difficult. The bear- 
ing of arms may not be safely en- 
joyed by the Filipino people until 
the great mass of them shall have 
acquired more self-restraint than 

[99] 
LoTC. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



can now be found among them ; 
nor can the jury system be safely 
put in practice now, even among 
those who are qualified to vote. 
The Commission has provided for 
the selection of two assessors of 
fact to assist the judges in reaching 
conclusions on issues of fact ; but 
the great majority of the electorate, 
even limited as it is, are not now 
fitted to take part in the adminis- 
tration of justice and reach conclu- 
sions free from prejudice and bias 
or danger of corruption. The House 
bill further declares that a resident 
of the Philippine Islands owing al- 
legiance to the United States shall 
enjoy the same protection from 
injury by foreign governments or 

[ 100] 



FEANCHISES AND LAND GRANTS 



in foreign countries as citizens of 
the United States. It is wise to 
spread these declarations of rights 
in favor of the Filipinos upon the 
face of the statute which gives 
them a voice in their own govern- 
ment, and I am sure it will have a 
good effect in making them under- 
stand the intention of the Govern- 
ment of the United States. 

Both hills empower the legislature 
of the islands to grant franchises 
for the building of commercial and 
street railroads and for the forma- 
tion of corporations for other pur- 
poses. Both hills limit the power 
of acquisition of land by a corpora- 
tion, foreign or domestic, to five 

[101 ] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



thousand acres. It seems to me 
that this limitation is too low, and 
that it ought to be raised to twenty 
thousand acres, for the reason that, 
in order to attract capital and to 
induce agricultural development on 
the best lines, especially in the pro- 
duction of sugar and tobacco, the 
cultivation must be of estates at 
least as large as fifteen or twenty 
thousand acres. This is the size 
of estates in Cuba and in the Sand- 
wich Islands. There are only five 
millions of acres held by individuals 
in the islands, while the public 
lands probably exceed sixty-five 
millions of acres in extent. I have 
no desire to promote such an ex- 
ploitation of the islands as will 

[102] 



FRANCHISES AND LAND GRANTS 



center ownership of the interests 
there in a few individuals, but it 
seems to me that it is most unwise 
to impose such restrictions as are 
likely either to prevent the coming 
of capital at all or to lead to unlaw- 
ful and fraudulent evasions of the 
restrictions. The cost of a modern 
sugar-plant is very heavy, and cap- 
italists cannot be induced to make 
the investment unless the extent of 
the land to be cultivated by them 
and the probable production are suf- 
ficient to warrant the necessarily 
large outlay. The investment of 
American capital in the islands is 
necessary to their proper develop- 
ment, and is necessary to the ma- 
terial, and therefore the spiritual, 

[103] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



uplifting of the Filipino people. It 
means the construction of railroads, 
the needed intercommunication be- 
tween the people and the provinces, 
and a change from a comparatively 
poor and ignorant people to one of 
comparative intelligence and wealth. 

The question is frequently asked 
why it would not be well to prom- 
ise the Filipino people that, when 
they are fitted for complete self- 
government, they shall be granted 
independence. In the first place, 
the Federal party, which furnishes 
the only organized expression of 
public opinion in the islands, does 
not ask independence, but seeks 
rather annexation to the United 

[104] 



SHALL WE PROMISE INDEPENDENCE? 



States and prospective Statehood. 
In the second place, there is not 
the slightest prohahility that the 
Christian Filipinos will he ready 
for self-government in any period 
short of two generations. Not ten 
per cent, of the people speak Span- 
ish, and the remaining ninety per 
cent, or more are densely ignorant, 
superstitious, and subject to impo- 
sition of all sorts. It is absolutely 
necessary, in order that the people 
be taught self-government, that 
a firm, stable government under 
American guidance and control, in 
which the Filipino people shall 
have a voice, should be established. 
Nothing but such a government can 
educate the people into a knowledge 

[105] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



of what self-government is. Not 
only by precept but by practice 
must the self-restraints essential to 
self-government and the discretion 
and public spirit of a free people 
be taught them. A promise to 
give the people independence when 
they are fitted for it would inevi- 
tably be accepted by the agitators 
and generally by the people as a 
promise to give them independence 
within the present generation, and 
would therefore be misleading, and 
the source of bitter criticism of the 
American government within a few 
years after the promise was given 
and not performed as it was under- 
stood by the people. A promise 
of independence thus interpreted 

[106] 



SHALL WE PROMISE INDEPENDENCE? 



would destroy the possibility of the 
formation of a stable government 
in which the people should be learn- 
ing what self-government is, be- 
cause the conservative element, with 
the assumed early prospect of com- 
plete independence, would fear that 
when the islands were abandoned 
the violent agitators would come to 
the front, and those assisting the 
present government would be sub- 
jected to the hostility of the dema- 
gogues on the ground of their pre- 
vious American sympathies. The 
only policy, it seems to me, which 
will insure the establishment of a 
firm, stable government, and the 
support of that government by the 
educated, wealthy, and conservative 

[ 107 ] 



CIVIL GOVEENMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



Filipinos, is the declaration of a 
policy in favor of the indefinite re- 
tention of the islands under a gov- 
ernment in which the share taken 
hy the Filipino people shall he made 
gradually to increase and the elec- 
torate of the Filipino people shall 
he gradually enlarged. After this 
government shall he successfully 
established, the question whether 
the islands shall be annexed or 
shall be granted independence, or 
shall have such a relation to this 
country as Australia or Canada has 
to England, may be very well post- 
poned until the practical education 
of the people in self-government 
shall have been sufficient to justify 
the adoption of either of these three 

[108 ] 



SHALL WE PROMISE INDEPENDENCE? 



courses. The policy of establish- 
ing a firm and stable government 
in which the Filipino people shall 
take part will doubtless reveal 
much as to the wisdom of the one 
or the other of the courses sug- 
gested; but it seems to me to be 
very unwise to bind ourselves and 
the next generation by an authori- 
tative declaration now as to what 
we shall do fifty or a hundred years 
hence. We cannot now know what 
subsequent generations of our own 
people will then deem wise, or what 
succeeding generations of Filipinos, 
benefited by experience in self-gov- 
ernment and advised of the advan- 
tage of association with the United 
States, will desire. 

[109] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



The opponents of the Adminis- 
tration policy in the Philippines do 
not agree with one another. If I 
have correctly understood Senator 
Rawlins, of the minority of the 
Senate Committee on the Philip- 
pines, in his questions put me when 
before the Senate Committee, he 
believes that the best thing for the 
Government to do is to turn over 
the islands to a strong man who 
shall maintain absolute rule over 
the people with no popular voice in 
the government. His view is that 
in Oriental countries no other than 
the absolute rule of a strong man 
is possible. If this be the true 
view, then hope of securing indi- 
vidual liberty to the people of the 

[110] 



THE ADMINISTEATION'S OPPONENTS 



Philippines must be abandoned, and 
the policy of those gentlemen who, 
like Senator Hoar, entertain the 
idea that by leaving the islands it 
will be possible to form a Filipino 
Republic in which all the rights of 
individual liberty will be secured 
to the Filipinos must be given 
up. President Schurman, after six 
months' observation of the people, 
reached the conclusion that they 
would not be fit for self-government 
short of a generation or longer. He 
now has reached the opinion, based 
on the reports of the present United 
States Philippine Commission and 
the observations of General Chaffee 
in reviewing criminal cases, that 
he was wrong in his judgment, and 
[111] 



CIVIL GOVEENMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



that the Filipino people will be 
capable of self-government after six 
or eight years of American tutelage, 
and this though the gentlemen upon 
whose statements he relies for his 
change of view agree with his 
former conclusion. The theory of 
President Schurman seems to be 
that the independence of a govern- 
ment and the individual liberty of 
its subjects or citizens are the same 
thing, or at least that the one is 
essential to the other. 

This, it seems to me, involves a 
radical error. Whether indepen- 
dence will aid in securing individ- 
ual liberty depends on the fitness 
for popular self-government of the 
people. If they are ignorant and 

[112] 



THE ADMINISTRATION'S OPPONENTS 



easily led, then independence means 
ultimately absolutism and not lib- 
erty. The independence under 
present conditions of the Philippine 
Islands will mean the subjection 
and not the liberty of the people. 
It will mean internecine warfare 
and will be followed by such an ab- 
solute government as that which 
Senator Rawlins seems to think 
best for them. 

The minority in the Philippines 
Committee in the Senate propose a 
constitutional convention within a 
year from the passage of the act, 
the delegates to which are to be 
selected by the votes of all the 
adult males of the Archipelago who 
can read and write. There are the 

[113] 



CIVIL GOVEENMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



million and a half Moros in Minda- 
nao and the Jolo group, and the 
million or more of the hill tribes- 
men. Why, under the theories of 
the minority, should the Moros or 
hill tribes be subjected to the rule 
of the Christian Filipinos, whom 
they dislike, and whose govern- 
ment they would certainly resist? 
The Democratic minority of the 
House Committee, with what seems 
to me greater judgment, proposes 
the establishment of a government 
in which there shall be some Ameri- 
can supervision and guidance for 
six or eight years. They expressly 
recognize the fact that three hun- 
dred years of Spanish rule have not 
been calculated to fit the people of 

[114] 



THE ADMINISTRATION'S OPPONENTS 



the Philippine Islands for self- 
government; but the assumption 
that six years of a government 
under American guidance will ac- 
complish such a result seems to me 
only less reasonable than the pro- 
posal of the Democratic minority 
in the Senate. No account is taken 
in these plans of the peculiar traits 
of the Moro population, of the den- 
sity of ignorance of ninety per cent, 
of the Christian Filipino population, 
or of the utterly uncivilized condi- 
tion of the hill tribes. The diffi- 
culty that the opponents of the 
Administration have in finding a 
common affirmative policy to up- 
hold is an indication of the correct- 
ness of the Administration plan, to 

[115] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



wit : that of the estahlishment of a 
firm and stable government now 
for the Christian PiHpinos, with as 
much share in the government as 
they can safely exercise, without 
any definite declaration as to what 
may he done in the far-distant fu- 
ture ; and separate forms of pater- 
nal government for the Moros and 
the other non- Christian tribes. 

The insurrection in the Philippines 
is at an end, but the difficulties of 
civil government are by no means 
ended. The first difficulty has al- 
ready been alluded to. It consists in 
the possible inadequacy of the reve- 
nues of the islands to meet the expen- 
ses of much-needed works of reform 

[116] 



SALAEIES AND EFFICIENCY 



and improvement in the Archipel- 
ago. The expenses of the govern- 
ment are increased by the neces- 
sity for the employment of many 
Americans and for paying them 
adequate compensation. To secure 
good work in the Philippines from 
Americans higher salaries must be 
paid than in the United States. 
The grave mistake in the Spanish 
administration of the Archipelago 
was in the payment of very low 
salaries to their officials, who took 
this as a justification for illegal ex- 
actions from the people. It is 
hoped, however, that with the ex- 
pected increase in business and 
commerce due to the investment of 
capital in the islands, revenues may 

[117] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



increase and permit a proper ex- 
pansion of government agencies in 
the development of the Archi- 
pelago. 

The second difficulty which con- 
fronts the civil government is to 
be found in the questions which 
grow out of the former relation of 
the Roman Catholic Church to the 
Spanish government in the islands. 
Under the Spanish rule the property 
and political interests of the gov- 
ernment were so inextricably con- 
fused with those of the Church 
that now, when, under the Treaty 
of Paris, the interests of the Span- 
ish government have been trans- 
ferred to the United States, which 

[ 118 ] _ 



CHUECH AND STATE 



by a law of its being cannot 
continue the partnership between 
Church and State, it is extremely 
difficult justly to separate the in- 
terests of the Church and the State. 
For instance, there are a number 
of charitable and educational trusts 
which, under the Spanish govern- 
ment, were generally administered 
by clerical agents. Some of these 
trusts were probably purely civil 
trusts, others were probably reli- 
gious trusts, and an issue of the 
utmost nicety is presented when 
decision must be given as to which 
are civil and which are religious 
trusts, so that the one may be ad- 
ministered under the Government 
of the United States and the other 

[ 119 ] 



CIVIL GOVEENMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



by the Roman Catholic Church. 
Again, under the agreement be- 
tween the Spanish Crown and the 
Church, the government furnished 
compensation for the priests, and 
also agreed to aid in the construc- 
tion of churches and so-called con- 
ventos or priests' rectories. So 
close was the relation between the 
Church and the State that it was 
not thought necessary to obtain a 
patent from the government to the 
bishop of the diocese for the public 
land upon which the church and 
rectory were built, so that probably 
a majority of the churches and rec- 
tories of the island (and there are 
a church and a rectory in nearly 
every pueblo in the island) stand 

[120] 



CHURCH AND STATE 



upon what the records show to be 
public land, and which, as such, 
passed to the Government of the 
United States under the Treaty of 
Paris. In such a case, however, 
it may very well be urged that 
while the legal title is in the Gov- 
ernment, the equitable title is in 
the Catholics of the parish, and 
that, in accordance with the canon- 
ical law, releases should be made 
by the Government of the United 
States to the bishop of the diocese 
for the benefit of the Catholics of 
the parish. In some pueblos, how- 
ever, the municipalities claim an 
interest in the conventos, and indeed 
in the churches, on the ground that 
they furnished the labor or mate- 

[121] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



rial with which the churches and 
rectories were constructed, and in 
some instances they have attempted 
to assert an ownership in these 
buildings. Indeed, it is very hard 
for the common people to under- 
stand the principle of the separa- 
tion of Church and State, and much 
time of the Civil Governor is taken 
up in explaining to the municipal 
authorities that they have no right 
as such to regulate the conduct of 
the priests in their churches or the 
fees which they charge. Again, 
the conventos or rectories have fur- 
nished the most convenient houses 
for occupation by the American sol- 
diers during the guerrilla warfare, 
and in some instances, too, churches 

[122] 



CHURCH AND STATE 



have been occupied as barracks. 
The question naturally arises whe- 
ther rental is not due from the 
United States for such occupation 
of church property, and what the 
reasonable rental shall be. This 
question is complicated with an- 
other, and that is whether the fact 
that the priests may have aided 
and abetted the insurgents, and 
may have had many insurgents 
among their parishioners, may not 
disentitle the parishes to a recovery 
of reasonable rental. If a rental 
is due, it is important that it should 
be promptly paid, because the war 
has, of course, much reduced the 
source of income for the Church and 
impaired its usefulness in affording 

[123] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



Opportunities for religious worship 
to the people. 

The four orders of friars, the Do- 
minicans, the Augustinians, the 
Eeeoletos, and the Franciscans, all 
of them Spaniards (for natives are 
not admitted to the orders), were 
the parish priests among the Chris- 
tian Filipino people, and these or- 
ders, except the Franciscans, be- 
came the owners, through purchase 
and otherwise, of four hundred 
thousand acres of agricultural land, 
two hundred and fifty thousand of 
which are situated near the city of 
Manila, and include some of the 
richest land in the islands. The 
better lands lie in the populous 

[124] 



THE FEIARS AND THEIR LANDS 



provinces of Oavite, Laguna, Bula- 
can, old Manila (now Rizal), and 
Gebu. One hundred and twenty- 
five thousand acres lie in the prov- 
ince of Oavite, and it is significant 
that of the three revolutions against 
Spain (if that of 1870 can be called 
a revolution), all began in this prov- 
ince, showing that the agrarian 
question of the ownership of these 
lands by the friars, while it was 
not the only issue, had much to do 
with the dissatisfaction which led 
to the armed resistance to Spanish 
authority. Civil government has 
now been completely established in 
Bulacan, old Manila or Rizal, Oa- 
vite, and Oebu, and soon will be 
established in Laguna. The title 

[125] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



of the friars to these lands is, from 
a legal standpoint, good. Indeed, 
there is probably no better title in 
the islands. Since 1896 no rents 
have been collected, and the former 
tenants have enjoyed the lands 
without price, so far as the condi- 
tions of war permitted. When 
now the friars shall call upon the 
ordinary courts of justice, as they 
have the right to do, either to col- 
lect the rents from their tenants or 
to restore them to the possession of 
their lands, the process of the court 
and the power of the government 
must be exerted to enforce the judg- 
ment which the proof of such facts 
will require. To an ignorant peo- 
ple, hostile to the friars, this will 

[126] 



THE FRIARS AND THEIR LANDS 



put the Government of the United 
States in the attitude of supporting 
the friars, and of siding with them 
in the controversy out of which 
grew the revolution against Spain, 
and there is every indication that 
riot and disturbance will follow any 
effort by the Government to aid the 
friars in the assertion of their prop- 
erty rights. It has been thought 
by the Commission to be the wisest 
policy, and one just to all interests, 
for the Government to purchase 
these lands from the friars, paying 
them a reasonable price therefor. 
Both the House and the Senate 
bills make provision for such pur- 
chase. 

A somewhat perplexing compli- 

[ 127 ] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



cation has arisen by the transfer of 
the title of the lands by the friars 
to promoting companies or individ- 
uals for the purpose of their sale 
or cultivation, but it is understood 
that the friars have thus far re- 
tained a controlling interest in each 
corporation taking the lands, and 
that they may, if they desire, sell 
the lands to the Government. 

Again, under the Spanish rule in 
the Philippines the friars discharged 
most important civil functions. 
Great credit is due to the religious 
orders for the work which they did 
in Christianizing the Archipelago 
and in bringing about the civiliza- 
tion which to-day exists in the isl- 

[ 128] 



THE FRIARS AND THE PEOPLE 



ands, but in the last Jialf-century the 
Spanish government, apparently 
without objection by the friars, im- 
posed upon them extensive civil 
duties in connection with municipal 
and provincial governments, until 
substantially all the political power 
exercised in municipal governments 
became absorbed by the friars. The 
friar priest in each parish became 
the chief of police and the chief 
of detectives in government work. 
Every man who was punished, es- 
pecially if he were punished for a 
political offense, charged it to the 
agency of the friar, and the depor- 
tations and executions which went 
on under Spanish rule were all laid 
at the door of the religious orders. 

[129] 



CIVIL GOVEENMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



To the people of the pueblos the 
friar was the crown of Spain, and 
every oppression by the Spanish 
government was traced by them to 
the men whose political power had 
far outgrown that exercised by them 
as priests. When the revolution 
came, therefore, deep hostility was 
manifested by the insurgents against 
the friars. They had to flee for 
their lives. Fifty of them were 
killed and three hundred of them 
were imprisoned, and during their 
imprisonment were subjected to the 
most humiliating indignities and to 
the greatest suffering. The feeling 
of the people against the friars was 
wholly political. The people were 
generally good Catholics and en- 

[130] 



THE FRIARS AND THE PEOPLE 



joyed and wished for the sacraments 
of their Church. With a popula- 
tion such as that of the Christian 
Filipinos, with ninety per cent, so 
densely ignorant, speaking eight or 
ten different languages, it is hardly 
possible to say that there is any pub- 
lic opinion such as we understand it ; 
but to this general remark must be 
made the exception that there is a 
universal popular hatred of the four 
religious orders which have been 
under discussion. It is entirely 
aside from the point to question the 
justice of this feeling. It exists and 
must be reckoned with by those 
who are charged with the responsi- 
bility of carrying on civil govern- 
ment in the islands. The friars 

[131] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



were driven out of all the parishes 
in the Archipelago except those of 
the city of Manila, where the Amer- 
ican forces have always been. A 
few of their number have returned 
to Oebii, to Vigan, and to Tugue- 
garao in the province of Oagayan, 
but the great body of them still 
remain in Manila and are unable 
to return to the parishes because 
of the expressed hatred of the peo- 
ple. If they should attempt to re- 
turn in any numbers, it is quite 
likely that the result would be dis- 
turbance and riot. 

Such religious worship as is now 
carried on in the parishes is con- 
ducted by native priests who were 

[132] 



SHALL THE FEIAES EETUEN? 



in the Spanish times the assistants 
or deputies of the friars. There 
are not enough of these priests to 
supply the needs of all the par- 
ishes, even if they were entirely 
satisfactory to the Church ; and the 
necessity in the interest of the 
Church of furnishing additional 
priests is, I think, recognized in 
the islands. The difficulty which 
the Church has in finding compe- 
tent priests that are available for 
service in the islands must be ad- 
mitted. Of course it would accord 
with the views of the Americans if 
American Catholic priests could be 
sent to the islands, because their 
high standard and their knowledge 
of how a Church may thrive and 

[ 133 ] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



gain strength under a government 
in which Church and State are en- 
tirely separate would assist much 
in establishing the new order of 
things with the people. But it is 
said that there is no supply of 
American Catholic priests which 
can fill this demand. 

The question which is presented 
to the civil government of the isl- 
ands is whether there is not some 
means of avoiding the lawlessness 
and riot which the friars' return to 
their parishes is certain to involve. 
Of course the civil government has 
nothing to do with the ministrations 
of religion or with the personnel of 
the agents selected by the Church 
to conduct its worship, so long as 

[134] 



SHALL THE FRIAES RETURN? 



they are law-abiding and do not 
preach treasonable doctrine ; but it 
cannot but give the greatest con- 
cern to the civil government if a 
Church shall adopt the policy of 
sending among the people priests 
whose very presence is sure to in- 
volve disturbance of law and order. 
With a people so ignorant and hav- 
ing a knowledge only of Spanish 
methods of government, the return 
of the friars will necessarily be 
regarded as due to an affirmative 
policy on the part of the govern- 
ment, and the burden of hostility 
which the friars now bear will ne- 
cessarily be shared by the govern- 
ment. If the purchase of the lands 
of the friars and the adjustment of 

[ 135 ] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



all the other questions arising be- 
tween the Church and the State 
should include a withdrawal of the 
friars from the islands, it would 
greatly facilitate the harmony be- 
tween the government and the peo- 
ple and between the Church and the 
State. 

I have stated some of the princi- 
pal questions arising between the 
Church and the State for the pur- 
pose of showing the great advan- 
tage which will be attained should 
these differences be settled by 
amicable adjustment between the 
Church and the State. In such a 
matter, were we dealing with a 
secular corporation, it would seem 

[ 136] 



NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE VATICAN 



a wiser policy and a more American 
and direct method of doing business 
to deal with the chief authority in 
the corporation rather than with 
some agent having but limited pow- 
ers. The Administration has con- 
cluded that the advantage of the 
direct method and the possibility 
of settling the differences amicably 
with the Church by such a method 
warrant it in running the risk of 
the unjust criticism that such ne- 
gotiation involves the establishment 
of diplomatic relations with the 
Vatican, and a departure from the 
traditions of our Government in this 
regard. Instead of being a depar- 
ture from such traditions, such a 
negotiation seems to be an indis- 

[137] 



CIVIL GOVEENMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



pensable condition precedent to the 
proper separation of the interests of 
Church and State in the Philip- 
pines. The unusual circumstance 
of a transfer of sovereignty from a 
government whose interests were 
almost indissolubly united to the 
Church, to a government whose in- 
terests must be kept separate from 
the Church, is what makes the pro- 
posed negotiation necessary. It is 
true that some of the questions 
might be settled by litigation, but 
a judicial settlement of them will 
involve long delay, consequent irri- 
tation, and possible charges of par- 
tiality against the courts which are 
finally called upon to decide the 
controversies. Is it not wiser, if 

[138] 



NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE VATICAN 



it be possible, to settle all the ques- 
tions by a friendly arrangement, 
and thus assist both the State and 
the Church in the pursuit of their 
proper aims for the benefit and up- 
lifting of the Filipino people ? It 
is possible that the views of the 
Administration and the views of the 
Church authorities may be so widely 
different as to the proper course to 
pursue that other methods of settle- 
ment must be found, but it is hoped 
that the great common interest 
which the Church and the State 
have in reaching a settlement will 
lead to such concessions on each 
side as will make it possible. The 
wise and enlightened statesmanship 
which has characterized the long 

[ 139] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



/ 

^0 



and prosperous pontificate of Leo 
XIII. furnishes just ground for this 
hope. 

A difficulty which may possibly 
confront the Philippine Government 
is the success of the Democratic 
party in the next Congressional 
elections. This will he taken in 
the Philippines as an indication 
that at the end of the present 
Administration the policy of the 
United States will he changed and 
the islands will be abandoned by 
j^.the United States and turned over 
•; 'to a government to be established 
by the people of the islands through 
the calling of a constitutional con- 
vention. The prospect of such a 

[ 140 ] 



POLITICAL ASPECTS 



change will have a tendency to 
paralyze the energy of the conserva- 
tive element of the Filipino people 
who are now assisting us in the 
maintenance of a civil government 
in the islands, and all will be sus- 
pense and agitation. This diffi- 
culty, however, is inherent in the 
government of dependent posses- 
sions by a Republic like our own 
whenever the chief political issue 
between the parties is the policy to 
be pursued with respect to such de- 
pendencies. I venture to think, 
however, that should the Republi- 
can party be successful in the Con- 
gressional elections next following 
and in the next National election, 
sufficient progress will be made in 

[141] 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 



the solution of the problem of the 
Philippine Government to insure the 
removal of the main issue from prac- 
tical politics thereafter. 



[142 J 

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because their minds worked identically, and auto- 
matically produced the same reaction, but because both 
were subjected to common historical influences — both 
of them subjected, although at far-removed times and 
places, to the same movement of civilization. With 
two or three instances of such common origin estab- 
lished, it is certain that there must have been a strong 
tendency for many other elements of culture to be 
transmitted, and little doubt that time and again the 
tendency became realized. 

From this broader point of view, then, Filipino civili- 
zation, in fact all East Indian civilization, is far from 
being an entity in itself. It constitutes only one phase 
of the infinitely more ancient and complex civilization 
that has for ages prevailed from Europe to the middle 
of the Pacific Ocean, and which can be fully understood 
only as an interrelated composite. The underlying 
problem of Philippine culture is not what is distinctly 
native about it or how it came to be so, but what is 
Chinese and Indian, Polynesian and Arab and Greek 
and Roman in it; just as the cultures of all these groups 
cannot be fully comprehended as detached units, but if 
insight is desired, must be looked upon as mere frag- 
ments of a vast whole that immeasurably transcends 
any one of them. 

Mythology. Filipino myths and tales are a strange 
composite of Indian and primitive Malaysian constitu- 
ents. The Javanese and peninsular Malay have taken 
over Hindu epics and romances. The Filipino has not; 
but the ultimate Indian origin of much of the content of 
his traditions is undeniable. The permeating influence 
of the greater civilization long ago reached him, but not 
with its full brunt. It evidently filtered through in bits 
and at second or third hand. Before the more luxuriant 
products of Hindu imagination, native invention gave 



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way at point after point. Yet the continuity of native 
life as a whole being undisturbed by any great shock, 
the lower civilization of the islands remained the 
recipient organism, as it were, which received and 
assimilated and worked over the more exalted literary 
plots and religious concepts that came into it piece- 
meal. 

Heroic Romances, The PhiUppine nationality 
whose mythology is best known is the Tinggian, a 
people never wholly out of contact with the coast and 
yet maintaining their ancient paganism to the present. 
The longest and finest of their tales can only be de- 
scribed as romances of battle, love, magic, hidden births, 
intrigue, and other adventure cast in the heroic mould. 
The actors are Aponi-tolau, the great warrior, and 
Aponi-bolinayen, whom he marries; his sister Aponi- 
gawani and Aponi-bolinayen' s brother, Aponi-balagan, 
between whom a second love story is spun ; their parents 
and sons; and innumerable monsters, mythical beings, 
and enemies. The chief personages appear under a 
great variety of names, but are always identified as the 
same. Each narrator recounts his tale differently, so 
that the stories frequently overlap in incidents, and yet 
possess a total variety sufficient to have made possible 
their combination into a great coherent cycle. This 
unification into one great epic the Tinggian however 
never accomplished. This failure would be enough, 
even if other indications were lacking, to suggest that he 
had never come into direct contact with the Hindu; 
since the latter at an ancient time developed the faculty 
of combining vast numbers of episodes into a long 
plot. On the other hand, the primary motives of these 
Tinggian romances are love and fighting, and suggest 
very strongly that these tales are not the uninfluenced 
product of a naively primitive culture ; since really un- 



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